REBELLION OF THOUGHT TO CHEW ON... CHOOSING A CHURCH

Here's a great quote we came upon while editing a portion of Rebellion of Thought from our interview with Gene Edward Veith (senior writer for World Magazine). It was in a section of the film that has been moved to the bonus features of the DVD, but I'm fairly confident we'll be able to find a home for it in the main film...

"People choose a church the same way they choose a major appliance. They look at the ones that meet their needs the best and that’s what they go with. They don’t even ask questions of “is this true? Is this what I need to hear?” It’s just “what I like.” And so they base their whole lives on that and turn themselves into post-modernists."

What are your thoughts? How did you select your church and if you had it to do over again would you do anything differently? Let us know...

Rebellion of Thought... the edit

Just a quick post to let everyone know that the film currently is down to 1 hour and 55 minutes. This was a major reason for celebration for Brad and me last week (since we began with a film that was 12 hours and 15 minutes long). Andy Warhol may have been able to get away with a film of that length but obviously he wasn't dealing with such a heady topic as post-modernism and the role of the Church in pm culture.

For those that don't know, in 1964 Andy Warhol made an eight hour film called Empire where he pointed a camera at the Empire State Building and filmed from dusk into the middle of the night (there's a brief clip available at Media Art Net and an interesting blurb at New York Art).

Anyhow, it is still our goal to get the final edit down in the ballpark of 90 minutes. We have had to toss out entire sections we had previously edited, but fortunately in the world of DVD this means our "bonus features" will be jammed with great material that just didn't make the final cut. Most likely it will be a two disc set, but we'll keep you posted.

REBELLION OF THOUGHT TO CHEW ON... CHRISTIAN IDOLATRY

While editing a section of Rebellion of Thought called "Creating God In Our Own Image," I included this quote from our interview with Bruce Ellis Benson (Associate Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College)...

"...we affirm as Christians that God does exists, and that our conception of God is not purely a kind of idolatrous conception of God. Now of course, there it gets a little difficult, because as Christians, I assume that our conception of God is probably never completely pure, that is to say, our conception of God is never completely free from idolatry. It's very easy for the conception of "Jesus, Lord of my life," to morph into, to change into, "Jesus, who is the granter of my desires." That's not a very big step, as it turns out, and indeed I assume that many of us live, in a sort of practical way so that Jesus is the granter of our desires, first and foremost, rather than the Lord and Master of our lives."

What are your thoughts on this concept of Christian idolatry? Please share them here...

REBELLION OF THOUGHT. . . needs your music!

We at the Paladin Media Group are currently on a quest for great music to help us create another award-winning soundtrack... this one for our current film Rebellion of Thought.


WHAT WE NEED
We are looking for fresh, up & coming and established solo acts, bands, instumentalists, orchestras, etc. from a wide variety of musical styles. We need music to help establish the feel of the film. We need background music for restaurants and a variety of locations. We need music to help push the film forward. We need music to help tell the story. Simply put, we need great music.


THE PROCESS
We start by auditioning as much music as possible. We listen to tracks again and again to find just the right one for each section of the film. Once these selections are made each musician will be notified as to which songs have been chosen for inclusion in the film. At this point a more formal contract will be issued to the selected musicians.


WHAT YOU GET OUT OF THE DEAL
A section of the Rebellion of Thought DVD featuring & promoting your music from the film, bio, album artwork, contact information, weblink to your site, and email link. Inclusion in all press materials related to the film. On screen credit in the film and on the website. Copies of the completed DVD. And of course, bragging rights... if you're into that sort of thing.


WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU
Please mail a cd, bio, lyrics, contact info, and a brief letter signed by all copyright holders stating that you are the owner of the copyrighted material and have the authority to assign the synchronization rights for inclusion in this film and on the film's soundtrack to:


Paladin Media Group
Attn: Rebellion of Thought Music Quest
673 Berkmar Court
Charlottesville, Virginia 22901

ROT WORLD PREMIERE... DATE & TIME ANNOUNCED

Yesterday I received an email from Richard Herskowitz, the director of the Virginia Film Festival. He let me know a tentative screen time for Rebellion of Thought at this years fest. We are currently slated to have our world-premiere on Saturday, October 28th, 4pm at the Regal Cinema on the downtown mall in Charlottesville.

I've been editing a lot lately in order to prep the film for it's debut and I'm happy to report that the running time is currently 8 hours and 30 minutes! That's down from over 12 hours. Before you all panic, please note that by the premiere it will be around 90 minutes... at least that's the goal.

If you are a musician or if you know any musicians please send them the link to the Rebellion of Thought Music Quest. We are currently searching for all genres of music for possible inclusion within the film as we prep to create another award-winning soundtrack. The details are spelled out on the Rebellion of Thought site.

I will leave you with a still image from the film...

Even the untrained eye will notice Charlottesville's Regal Cinema in the background. I won't spoil it, but this particular scene has an unbelievable ending... you'll have to come to the premiere to discover how it all turns out.

In the mean time... edit, edit, edit...

Going to Church by Staying at Home

A recent Washington Post article by staff writers Michael Alison Chandler and Arianne Aryanpur...

Going to Church by Staying at Home - Clergy-Less Living Room Services Seen as a Growing Trend

MOMENTUM 06

MOMENTUM 06 - Friday, June 23rd and Saturday, June 24th at St. James Church, Newport Beach, CA

Don't miss this incredible two-day conference on the emerging church, worship, justice, the arts and missional life.

With: Mike Pilavachi, Todd Hunter, Brenton Brown, David Ruis, and several others.

A good friend of mine (Keith Giles) will be leading a couple of workshops, one on Compassion Ministry with the amazing Crissy Brooks (MIKA), and one on Missional Gospel "The Gospel: For Here Or To Go?".

Student Rates and Couples Rates just added.

Go online to learn more...

More On Gilley, The Church, The Truth

In his article, Gary Gilley comes down hard on the "emergent" church. First, let me state that some people call what we do "emergent" while others call it "micro church", some call it "home church", some "organic", some "cell", etc., etc. Our church has no name and perhaps this is part of the problem. If we had a name on a sign people could more easily put us in some type of spiritual box and then perhaps more easily dismiss us. We tell people over and over that we are not trying to do church... instead we are trying to be the church... we are truly attempting to live more as missionaries right here in America, than as "church-goers". Second, let me make it clear that I make no claims of being the mouthpiece for any of the previously mentioned groups. And third, allow me to state again that I have not "arrived". I will never again treat my faith as if it were the destination. The faith journey I am on is exactly that... a journey, and what I offer below are merely glimpses of what I've seen from the peaks and valleys of the trip.

By Gilley's description I would want to disassociate myself from anything "emergent" ASAP. At the same time I must admit that I feel he is selectively quoting the various authors (McLaren, Sweet, etc.) in an attempt to convince the reader that he has the correct interpretation of doctrine, truth, etc., etc., similar to how pastors from the modern era selectively dissect scripture in order to prove their points, promote their agendas, etc.

Gilley is dead-on when he writes, "Truth claims are held with suspicion within postmodernism..." There is no doubt that a post-modern culture rejects truth claims, but Gilley is dead-wrong when he says, "Something has to give and that something seems to be truth." (If you haven't read it yet, please read the entire article to get a better understanding of Gilley's perspective).

Like I stated in my previous post, the Christian message CAN'T change, and that message is THE Truth, and it is THE Truth that post-moderns, moderns, and non-believers throughout human history have rejected and will continue to reject.

I think that some of the confusion comes from the term "postmodern". What do we mean by that? Does Gilley mean the same thing when he writes "postmodern" that McLaren and Sweet mean? In the simplest sense of the word, postmodernism refers to what comes after modernism. It's like saying it's "post-3pm" for anything that comes after 3pm. It's a term that means everything and a term that means nothing. Someone along the way called the modern era, the "modern era". They could have simply called it the "post-medieval era." Even though it may actually be 11pm, the term "post-3pm" would still technically be correct due to it's catch-all nature. Postmodernism quickly became the buzzword because no term so easily defines the transition we are currently in from the modern era into a new era and until a better term comes along "postmodern" wins.

Now the trouble comes when we start applying this term "postmodern" as an adjective to modify a noun (i.e. "postmodern Christians"). If we are moving from modernism into a new era, which most everyone agrees we are (even though many will go kicking and screaming into this new era), then every Christian (good, bad, holy, sinner, sanctified, purified, backslidden, etc.) could be called "postmodern Christians", simply because that is the age in which we dwell. If by "postmodern Christian" it is meant "a Christian who has bought into postmodern thought" (i.e. the rejection of all truth) that would simply be an oxymoron. How could someone who rejects all truth claims, believe in THE Truth Claim of Christ's suffering, death and resurrection? I would imagine that if I had the chance to sit down with Dr. Gilley, we could agree on 99.9% of the core message of gospel... Christ was a real person and somehow, simultaneously he was the Son of God, he was born of a virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, buried and somehow, miraculously rose from the grave, he sits today at the right hand of God the Father almighty and intercedes on our behalf, etc., etc., (sounds like some of the creeds our spiritual forefathers wrote as statements of their beliefs).

So the way I see it, the debate (and a necessary debate it is) is not about message, but rather comes down to methodology... If we as the Church (and the secular world around us) are entering a new era (posmodernity), would it be appropriate to adapt our methods (not our message), but our methods, in order to be salt & light to people who reject truth claims?

The method of my father used to teach me right from wrong was effective... simply put, it worked. But in the time from my childhood to that of my own children, the world under us has changed. My father never had to worry about what I might find on the Internet, simply because there was no Internet. He didn't have to worry about what my little eyes would see on 500 channels of TV, because we only had 3 channels. He didn't have to worry about me rejecting all truth claims, because it hadn't become so prevalent within our culture. His method of teaching right from wrong worked! All I need to do as a parent is modify his method to account for the changes that have occurred within the culture over the last generation. It would be foolish of me to tamper with the message, because it is still critical for my children to learn right from wrong. But I have no problem adapting the method to account for any cultural changes. And this is all we are proposing to the Church.

I believe an additional part of the confusion develops from the cultural definition of the word "church". We Americans are so accustomed to saying things like, "I'm going to church", "what church do you attend?", "I really like the pastor at the new mega church", etc. We know in our hearts that The Church is people and not structures, but our language betrays this idea. In reality, culturally speaking, the church is the building where the people gather. And unfortunately, as believers, we tend to define our faith experiences by the space in which they occur. What I and others are proposing as part of this "emerging, micro, cell, etc." phenomenon is a redefining of the word church within our greater culture. This adjustment to the word's definition would focus on the people and not the locale of their activities. Of course, to redefine a word is a near impossible task without an enormous marketing campaign, so instead of trying to convince the world that The Church is people and not structures, instead I will live that out and hopefully impact a few along the way. And as I and the thousands of others like me do just that, slowly we will impact the greater culture.

I know that all of this barely begins to scratch the surface of the debate... for some it will hopefully be something interesting to chew on... for others it may just be a waste of perfectly good blog space...

Until next time... vaya con Dios, Amigos!

Apologetics... of sorts

A few days ago I received this from a friend...

--------------------------

Came across this.

Trying to understand the Emerging Church Movement a little.

Any input?

http://www.svchapel.org/Resources/Articles/read_articles.asp?ID=122

This is the pastor that I grew up under. His affiliated with the same fellowship of churches that I am affiliated with.

--------------------------
MY INITIAL RESPONSE

Our gatherings are more ancient church (i.e. New Testament) than medieval (Catholic - as the article points out). We worship from house to house.

We are very concerned with method & message. I believe the method can and should change (like Paul - 1 Cor 9:19-23 NIV Message). We believe that the message CAN'T change (the author of the article hints at the fact that even the message will be flexible). Our message is that salvation is through Christ alone. Repent, be baptized, then become the hands, feet, voice, and heart of Christ wherever you are. We are about a 24/7 faith, not Sunday's & Wednesday nights.

What's interesting is that a good number of the critics of this movement (if you can call it a movement) happen to be dependent on the traditional church structure for their livelihood. I honestly feel that they may look at what we do as a threat. If what we do (and thousands of others like us) continues to grow and continues to pull people out of traditional church environments, their jobs could be at risk.

Our model has no overhead. We have no paid pastor, no mortgage, no building fund, etc. and one of the most freeing things has been the way we give our tithes & offerings. Each family prayerfully considers which ministry, missionary, poor family, evangelistic outreach, etc. that they believe God is asking them to support and then we give. 100% of the money goes. I don't believe there is another church model that can claim that. At the traditional church we left, 83% of the total money put in the plate ($2.5M annually) was spent inside the walls of the church (salaries, curriculum, programs, etc.). This left only .17¢ of every dollar for ministry outside of the church structure (community ministry, foreign missions, etc.).

I personally see this as signs of a self-centered church where people tend to be much more concerned about there own "spiritual growth" than in truly being the church in the community around them.

Please note that I have not arrived yet. In the past I have been accused of being a gnostic and of turning my back on the church. The truth is, many traditional church members and ministers don't understand what we are about. From a distance they will throw stones, but what's interesting is that when they talk to us or see us up close, they leave challenged to live a deeper faith. That alone could be reason enough for our existence... then I remember the people that are connecting to their Father in heaven and to each other and to their community through what we do and I'm reminded that we exist for many, many reasons.

I'll try and reply to more of the article later.

Best,

Kent

Revelation at the Gates of Splendor

Reclining in my Lazy-Boy last night about 11 something, my late night reading was interrupted by a phone call from my 19 year old daughter that started off with the words "First, I'm OK." Now, if that doesn't get your adrenaline pumping, then you are either demised or not the parent of a 19 year old female.

Over the next few minutes her mother and I discovered that she was on her way to the Chapel at Taylor University in Indiana where she is a student. Her anguished voice told us that the students and staff were mustering there because word had just reached the campus of an horrific collision involving a semi-trailer and a Taylor University van. Students and staff returning from activities in Fort Wayne had been struck by a semi that crossed the median. Things weren't OK.

Four students and one staff member dead. Four others "life-flighted" to area hospitals.

Silence.

She was off to pray and comfort with others and would call us with more information when it came her way.

So we sat and waited. Then we thought to call our friends and family members who would likely worry if they saw this on the morning news. Then we sat, lost in our own thoughts. We thought of the parents of the four other students from our neighborhood that were at Taylor. We thought of the parents of four students who would be getting unexpected visits from the State Police that evening. We prayed. We anguished over the common pain of parents who suffer their children's passing, grateful that we were spared. And in quiet communion with God, I thought.

How horrible for those involved. What pain for the survivors. I prayed for those families as my heart ached for them. I examined what we could do to help. I prayed some more.

I thought, what of the truck driver? He survived - 27 years old, in serious condition physically, and who knows what condition he will be in emotionally when he has to come to terms with his involvement in a collision that killed five and injured others. Something else struck me - what condition is he in spiritually? I realized that this was a question that I would not normally ask, and that alerted me. God holds my thoughts, too. Pay attention, I thought, to the whisperings of God.

Alone and injured, in a hospital far from his home in Michigan. I thought about how he would feel, accused, blamed, guilty at having survived, and probably receiving the anger of others. Could he find comfort and healing in his knowledge of a just and loving God? And something else struck me.

I thought of Nate Saint and Jim Elliot, two of the five missionaries murdered by Auca Indians in Ecuador, as they worked to share the Gospel fifty years ago. We knew nothing of the story that started as "Through Gates of Splendor", but we know now something of how it turned out. The horrible murder of those five on a sandbar in the jungles of Ecuador was the key that unlocked the hearts of many of those isolated indians, including the hearts of the murderers themselves. The story continues, quite unlike it began, as Auca indians, having been touched by God through those five, reach out to others around them. Their world is changed, because five missionaries died on the sandbar in the jungle.

I thought about those students and staff member that died last night. This morning I was told that they all professed a relationship with God that made their lives different, and made an impact on those around them. Who could imagine a God that would use the deaths of those that love Him to change the life of someone, maybe an injured truck driver, that didn't know Him?

Fifty years ago, nobody could have imagined a savage, war-fighting tribe of Ecuadorian indians would be taking the love of an all-powerful God to other isolated tribes. Fifty years from now, I pray we look back on yesterday in the same amazement and wonder, as we realize what the deaths of these five saints have changed.

I know they have changed me.

Rebellion of Thought... the film

The Brothers Williamson's film Rebellion of Thought has been pre-selected to have it's world premiere at the 19th annual Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville, October 26-29, 2006.

This gives us a deadline to get the picture completed and ready for the big screen. After over five years in the making it will be good to get this film in front of audiences and to let the debates begin. Since the film takes a critical look at the role of the Church in a post-modern world, we anticipate good discussions, healthy arguments, and only moderate tar & feathering.

Actually, the words of Christ come to mind as we prepare to screen Rebellion of Thought in my adopted hometown. "A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house." It's a good thing Brad is from the faraway country of Michigan... or else there could be serious tar & feathering.

Keep your ears out as we chronicle the joys and challenges of getting the film completed and please let your friends know about the upcoming premiere... there's no place like Charlottesville in the fall!

How will real life change happen in the context of our church?

Karen Williamson wrote:

I've been thinking. . . .

How will real life change happen in the context of our church?

Fact: It is God who changes people, and the Holy Spirit who somehow helps.
Fact: Frequently, the Holy Spirit uses people to help change people.
Fact: People have to want to change, and do certain things to facilitate change in their own lives. I cannot change someone else.
Fact: The Church is made up of wounded, sinful, hurting people who need a Savior, not only for salvation, but for healing and wholeness.

Theory: Real change is probably going happen in smaller, more intimate groups where honesty and accountability are safe and expected, rather than in a larger group setting.

Question: How will we structure our church gatherings so that everyone is encouraged to work on those parts of our lives that need real change, to seek support and prayer in our areas of need, and then to go and help others do the same all week long?

My own thinking: As we have grown, it has become easier to come in and out of our time together on Sunday being rather anonymous, not necessarily intentionally, and not because the hurts and struggles and needs do not exist, but . . . . just because. It probably isn't going to happen in a gathering of 50.

Some in our church body are connected with a core group where real life change is happening. The extroverts in our group will continue to speak up, and some have been open and honest in some of these ways. But a good number of our introverts may continue to show up just like they always did, going to and from church quietly, and not very honestly.

I'm not bringing this up as an issue of size, though that is an obvious consideration. But rather, whether large or small, how will we as a church communicate the expectation that we don't keep "doing church", even in a new and fresh way, without our being changed in the process? That this a place where we expect healing and growth to take place, because we are a bunch of wounded, hurting, and sinful people coming together before a benevolent, gracious, abundantly loving Father and Savior?

Any thoughts?
Karen

FEEDING THE HOMELESS

Last night was a beautifully cold night and it happened to be the night my little organic "church" gathered to feed the homeless. We partnered with a teeny "real church" on the south side of town who was hosting the men and all we had to do was show up, serve the meal, eat the food ourselves, then hang out for an hour or two talking, playing games, soaking in the strange smells, etc.

So I left my warm, newly re-sided, freshly painted homestead on my five+ acre lot nestled along the blue ridge mountains of Virginia and climbed into my BMW 325i. I fired the engine and wound my way up my 600 foot, snowy, icy, slushy driveway. As an aside, the guy who invented the heated seat deserves a medal. Mine warmed the leather right up to the point I didn't even need to wear my coat. It made the trip in the passenger's seat.

Out on the road my comfort was temporarily placed in the back seat while my complaining spirit took the wheel. There's a four mile stretch of road from my house to the first stop light where you can't pass and I happened to get behind some old cottonhead just creaping along. What a pain... there's not much worse than being in a sporty vehicle that can't do what it's designed to do. If my auto-traction indicator doesn't light up the dashboard on the ice patches then somehow I feel I'm not getting my monies worth out of the vehicle.

Along the way my bored car told me she needed her tank refilled. So as soon as I got around the slow-me-down I found a place where I could complain about the price of gas. At least the folks at the major petro companies don't need to worry about becoming homeless... with what their raking in lately they ought to be set for a while.

I made the rest of the trip to the sounds of one of my favorite radio stations. The one my wife likes when they play acoustic sets in the morning, but can't stand as the day wears on and the other instruments start showing up, and the volume gets cranked, and the lyrics & guitars all get distorted into a heap that has to force its way out the speakers... it's the FM I listen to when I want to feel cool and young and hip and... you get the point. Anyway, the Foo Fighters, Radiohead, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, etc. made the drive with me.

I got the last parking space at the little church and nearly ran over three homeless guys in the process. They were standing around drinking coffee as I whipped around the corner and dove for the spot. I'm sure I probably offended them as I climbed out and locked my car door. I asked them if they had already eaten and they said they had. I asked them if it was good and they said it was. Then I probably offended them again as I told them I was glad the food was good, because I needed to get inside a get a bite myself... "who's the guy in the BMW coming here to eat our dinner?!"

I opened the door to the church and was nearly washed away in the sea of cots... literally wall to wall cots, many of them occupied, all of them marked with a handful of belongings. I had to make my way toward the kitchen, sometimes scooting sideways to get there.

The meal itself was good (our group had prepped it)... ham, green beans, rolls, jello salad, cookies, etc. I joined our group late, so I jumped right into eating and sought out a table where I was able to enter into conversation with a couple of the men. The thing that struck me right away was how it was difficult to tell the difference between some of the homeless and those serving them. The two I was speaking with could have been either, but I was either too afraid or too smart to ask, so I just let it ride.

Both of these gentlemen were black and both shocked me with their knowledge of the history of punk music. In my mind punk music has always been a white thing from my youth. Similar to the stereotypical concept that I've always had that rap was a black thing. One of these men was in his forties and the other in his late thirties and together we discussed all the groups from my youth... Black Flag, the Dead Kennedy's, the Ramone's, the Clash, the Kinks, the B-52's, the Sex Pistols, etc., etc. Then as quick as the conversation began it was over... I don't know if I got up to get more desert or what, but when I returned they were gone and it was done. It was almost like a strange dream where you think it might have really happened, but you're afraid to mention it to anyone in fear that they might point out that it was only a chimera.

I spent the rest of the evening playing cards with my eight year old son and his friends. We dealt a couple of mighty hands of "war" while a handful of the homeless guys huddled in a corner to watch the dvd of Cinderella Man. Upon retrospection, it must be an interestingly inspiring film for a homeless person to watch. In a bizarre sense, widespread poverty in the midst of the great depression could possibly be a comforting scenario to those with nothing. But then again, it's only a movie.

There was no discussion or debate over whether the film should be nominated for Best Picture at the 78th Annual Academy Awards. It was just men glued to a story, passing time, two hours closer to bed time, two hours closer to the next meal, two hours closer to...

Every year I ask a certain single friend of mine what he's doing for Thanksgiving or Christmas and year after year he gives me his standard response. He tells me he's gonna go down to the bus station to watch people who have somewhere to go. That's what last night felt like. It was as if I were at the bus station... a few men gathered around the tv in the corner, a couple people playing cards, a few others stretched out on benches or cots with their backpacks nearby... all of us waiting patiently for a bus that would never arrive.

I had a couple of other brief conversations with a couple of the guys where we exchanged courtesies, etc., while I prepped to leave. I shook a couple of hands, smiled, said goodbye and climbed back into my car... my safe, secure, foreign automobile.

I didn't witness it, but I learned later that when I was walking out another friend of mine was walking in. He went inside to give his jacket to one of the homeless men he had befriended. He went inside to be the hands and feet of Christ.

Me, I fired up my BMW, turned on the seat warmer and drove home... my jacket riding shotgun the whole way...

At least I've noticed the disconnect...

SORTING THROUGH THE RUBBLE OF CHURCH

This article was originally written in the summer of 2004 as the Holy Spirit was preparing me to leave the traditional church structure and enter into the wild, vast and widely uncharted territory of being the church in a post-modern world...

Many lessons have since been learned, but this was a catalyst, a starting point of sorts... one of those conversations with friends where the blurred begins coming into focus...



SORTING THROUGH THE RUBBLE OF CHURCH
by Kent C. Williamson

Imagine the most horrific terrorist attack happening to the Church. Your own church’s building laid waste, the sanctuary reduced to dust, church programs bleeding and dying, everything gone… everything. This is the starting point of a journey I took recently with seven friends, seven believers, seven “loved-ones” of the Church who stood with me at our fictitious “ground zero” and helped me sort through the rubble, searching for items necessary to help us (by the power of the Holy Spirit) become more mission-minded, enabling us to be both effective and relevant in a post-modern culture.

The first thing I noticed while standing at our “ground zero” was that the building was gone. Just gone… and I had to ask the question, “do we even need to rebuild it?” And the answer finally came… “no.” The church is not a building with a spire pointed at the heavens. The church is people, like you and me, called by God according to His purpose. Christ lived, died and rose again in order to move the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit from the Tabernacle or Temple, into the heart. When the traditional sanctuary is empty it is void of the Holy Spirit, but when you walk in, the Holy Spirit is there because the Holy Spirit indwells YOU! Not because someone rang a bell in heaven waking the Spirit and sending Him your direction. The same goes for Wal-Mart or Starbucks. If either of these establishments would ever be empty (and trust me they never will be) they too would be void of the Holy Spirit and if you would enter through the doors then the Holy Spirit would be there because the Holy Spirit indwells each believer. So the physical church building does not need to be rebuilt. That doesn’t mean that believers don’t need a place to gather, it means that the gathering doesn’t have to take place in a traditional church setting.

As I began to dig through the debris around me, one of the first items I came across was a communion plate. Tarnished, scratched and dusty… I tucked it under my arm, because I knew we had to take it with us. In order for a mission-minded “church” to be effective and relevant in a post-modern culture there we’re certain things we had to dig out and take with us, and communion was high on the list.

A torn choir robe was found near the altar. I toyed with the idea of taking it, repairing it, and putting back into service. But then I realized it could stay. At first I thought the robe represented worship and that we needed to have it for that purpose, but then I realized it more accurately represented the concept of worship more than worship itself. The image of the choir in the their robes in front of the congregation immediately conjures up an image of praise… not the praise itself. Instead I picked up a hymnal with its cover torn off and decided to bring it with. Much of the poetry contained within speaks to a history of believers faithfully expressing themselves through worship of God. Some of it is deeply thought provoking and profoundly worshipful. Those are the pages I’ll keep. Other pages contain tripe; dribble for a weak believer expressing a weak faith. Those pages I’ll probably eventually tear out, but for now I’ll keep the book, knowing that it will help guide the post modern-man. (Fortunately much of the modern “Jesus is my girlfriend” music has not found its way into many hymnals. If we can help people forget the catchy jingles and horrendously weak lyrics future believers will be better off).

A friend of mine digging in the area near the remains of the church office found the wooden placard that once hung on the wall where we faithfully displayed our attendance numbers. It was in decent shape, but he wisely went ahead and broke it before tossing it back into the rubble. In the reorganized church, numbers will not matter. They will not be used as our gauge for success. We will not be concerned with how many contacts we’ve had, how many professions of faith we’ve heard, or how many re-dedications have taken place. What we will be concerned about is have we lived our faith authentically? Have we loved our neighbor as ourselves? Have we loved the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind? These measuring sticks are far less tangible than how many people were in the “early service,” but far more relevant in a world that longs for realness.

The next casualties we uncovered were "church programs“ and “curriculum." The majority of church programs we came across were dead long before the attack on the church and most of the curriculum was a very poor attempt at the Denomination trying to dictate the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the churched. They did a fine job of allowing the staff to not have to confront heretics… meaning that if the whole church studied “approved curriculum” then no teacher could stray too far into the vast ocean of heresy. Ankle deep in heresy perhaps, but definitely no swimming allowed.

Somebody found the sign that pointed church members to the “Fellowship Hall”. It was broken right between the words Fellowship and Hall. We kept the half that said Fellowship and tossed the other half into the ashes. The word fellowship alone was enough to remind us of our need for drawing together. We didn’t need a specific room where it could take place (giving the idea that it couldn’t take place anywhere else).

Next I heard faint sobbing from behind the crushed pulpit. As I approached I realized it was the pastor. You could tell that his grief was tremendous. We tried to comfort him, but to no avail. We asked him to join us in re-building a church without all the trappings, but he refused. He stood behind that broken pulpit where he had preached a thousand sermons and looked out over what remained of his sanctuary. The sanctuary where hundreds had walked the aisles, and millions had been put into the offering plates. And right then and there he vowed before us and God, that no matter what, he would rebuild it. He would use the same blueprint and the same materials. He would rebuild it exactly the way it was, but it would be better than ever… a bigger choir, more programs, more members, a larger gymnasium… a testimony that God can overcome anything!

I stood there and thought about the poor out in the streets that would never truly be welcome in the new building. I thought about the homosexuals that would never even think of crossing the threshold into the sanctuary. I thought of post-modern man and how he wouldn’t give a **bleep** about this pastors new found “vision.” And that’s when I decided that I would just keep digging. I would dig and look for remains of the faith that are needed for me to live as a missionary to my community. I’ve found a few of them. And when the Holy Spirit tells me I’ve found them all then I will leave this “Ground Zero” and I won’t look back. I will grieve for my loss, but I won’t look back.

..........................................................

November 2005 Update

OTHER FINDS...

GIVING... We eventually found an offering plate and decided to keep it, but not for the purpose of giving money to ourselves (like many traditional church offerings do*), but for giving directly to those whom the Spirit calls us to give. Talk about freedom! Being able to give directly to the missionaries you feel called to support, the ministries within your own community, state, country, the poor, whomever. It requires us to be much more intentional about our giving, because no one is passing a plate that we can drop a generic check into.

* I recently learned that 83% of my previous traditional church's income was committed for activities, events, payroll, and administration at the church. This means that only 17% is being used outside the walls of the church for missions, community, etc. I'm not certain what percentage should make a church "self-centered", but I'm pretty confidant that 83% would fall into that category.

SERVICE... We also are attempting to learn about corporate service to the community around us. On this one we have a ways to go, but I'm convinced that if the world around us is served by men and women of faith, lives will changed.

PREACHING... "Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary" Even though scholars say that St. Francis of Assisi never used this phrasing, I'm a believer in the spirit of this concept. Many Post-Moderns will respond better by seeing the Gospel than by hearing it. That said, some will need to hear it, so be prepared to preach... but we must remember not to throw pearls before swine, and don't preach to those who don't need to be preached to.

TEACHING... Discipleship is critical for new believers... we must make it happen, but it doesn't need to be with a fill-in-the-blank workbook. Teaching my son how to hammer a nail is best done with a hammer and a nail. Pictures and words only go so far... the same is true for discipleship... words and classes can't compete with learning by doing.

Other lessons are still being learned... such is the journey of faith.

Disciples Undisciplined

By Kent C. Williamson

Discipleship – It’s probably THE most critical element related to spiritual growth. Sure there are churches that are on target in regards to discipleship, and some are more on target than others. But my thirty-seven year exposure to American Christendom leaves me believing that often churches think they are discipling believers when in actuality they are merely providing “programs” for their members. Many have forgotten that the root of the word disciple grows most deeply in the same fertile soil of the word discipline.

Now when I use the word discipline I don’t mean “punishment” or a “field of study”. I mean (to expound on Webster) “training that shapes, corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties, moral or spiritual character of an individual.” It is important to note that it is impossible to truly shape the spiritual character of an individual without the aid of the Holy Spirit, and by shaping the spirit it is impossible not to impact the moral and mental faculties of the one being transformed.

If there are spiritual disciplines that shape our spiritual character and make us disciples (as opposed to merely “aimless followers of Christ”), then what are these disciplines, and more importantly why are they not being consistently and effectively taught? In a recent dinner conversation with a friend, I asked this question. The disciplines we thought of were prayer, study, worship and fasting. We scratched our brains a bit until my wife mentioned a book she had read nearly fifteen years ago called Celebration of Discipline. She grabbed it from the shelf, dusted it off and handed it to me. This began my latest crusade.

That Sunday as I was teaching an adult Sunday School class, I decided to ask them, “Who among us has ever fasted?” I wasn’t shocked by the response, I was more disheartened by it. Of the twenty-five or thirty people there, maybe four or five people raised their hands while the remainder looked at me as if I had suddenly started speaking Chinese. That’s when it hit me that the Church has failed in teaching the spiritual disciplines to the flock.

At lunch that day as my family filled an oversized booth at The Blue Bird Cafe, I asked my five kids what fasting was. Now my ten-year-old daughter tends to be wise beyond her years. She has been raised in the church and I knew she was about to make me proud with her brilliant response. I looked at her over the half-eaten plates of brunch and she stared back across the booth at me as if I again had suddenly started speaking Chinese. Meanwhile one of my five-year-old twin girls piped up, “Fasting is what we do when we’re late. We drive fast.” That’s when it hit me that I have failed in teaching the spiritual disciplines to my family.


HOW CAN YOU TEACH WHAT YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TAUGHT?
In Foster’s book, he focuses on the following as spiritual disciplines: Solitude, Silence, Fasting, Frugality, Simplicity, Sacrifice, Prayer, Study, Service, Submission, Worship, Celebration, Fellowship, and Confession. Quite a list if you dwell on it. Most churches I have been a part of touch on Prayer, Study, Worship, and Fellowship. Some dig deep into Study while others focus on Worship or Prayer. Most have been pretty good at Fellowship (or at least hanging out together). I’ve never been privileged to be a part of a congregation that was really good at more than two or three of Foster’s list.

How do I teach Service to my children if I’ve never been taught how to effectively serve? How does a pastor teach Solitude if he’s never been taught the purpose of Solitude? How does he teach Fasting when one of our main forms of “Fellowship” is the pot-luck dinner on Wednesday nights? How does he teach Frugality while his church’s new 2 million dollar gym is being built?

There is also a huge difference between teaching by preaching and teaching by doing. All of our preaching about the disciplines is useless if we don’t teach by example and if we don’t provide hands-on opportunities for learning to take place.


EIGHTEEN DAYS OF FASTING
I recently finished eighteen days of fasting. Doesn’t that sound impressive? It had been well over a decade since my last fast (you can see how disciplined I am), so I decided to refrain from food… one meal a day for the eighteen days leading up to Easter. It was a wonderfully confusing time. It gave me opportunity to pray more (another discipline) and to experience restraint first-hand. It did not culminate with God showing up in some sort of miraculous vision. It simply ended with a quiet celebration (another discipline) of the Risen One.

Was it life changing? Yes, I believe it was, because in fasting, in denying myself food, it gave me a hunger for far more than a half-pound bean burrito at the Bell…. It gave me a spiritual hunger for discipline. It also gave my children an opportunity to see Fasting up close. My son joined me for a handful of those eighteen days, so now there’s an eight-year-old in Virginia that has a little better idea of what it’s like to taste a spiritually disciplined life. One day during our fast we were in line at the Sam’s Club deli, buying lunch for the rest of the family, and I caught him with his eyes closed and his lips moving. I asked him what he was praying about and he simply said, “I’m praying that I won’t get hungry.”


THE LUNCH I SHOULD HAVE FASTED
I was recently invited to speak over lunch to a small gathering of Lutheran ministers about my spiritual journey and about my moving into ministry outside the walls of the church. I was encouraging and challenging these ministers to take the spiritual disciplines more seriously with their congregations, knowing and believing that the result will be men and women of deeper faith, more capable of being ministers of the gospel themselves. It was going very well when I was blind-sided by one of them who thought I was encouraging legalism and condemnation by promoting a deeper understanding and practice of the disciplines. He thought it would lead us to judging the depth of one person’s faith over another, and what about “grace” anyway? We’re saved by grace not by works, so this spiritual discipline stuff seems like works-based faith! This was not at all my intent, but his perception of it troubled me greatly. Are we called to use grace as an excuse for spiritual laziness?

Later it struck me that if pastors encourage the disciplines too much, the result will be deep-faith believers who are less dependent on the Institutional Church and more effective in their ministries in the community around them. Not something you want to hear if your livelihood is dependent on the Institutional Church.

So maybe instead I’ll promote a different cause: Help keep your pastor employed, stay spiritually unfit. Whatever you do, don’t study the disciplines, don’t read Foster’s book, don’t deepen your faith. Things are just fine in American Christendom… please don’t trouble the waters.

Do Not Be Deceived

I read an interesting letter to the editor in World magazine the other day. While the topic of the letter isn't relevent to this article, the writer made a statement qualifying believers (those who claim to be 'born again') as "only those who are active in church and living out their faith." (italics mine)

Interesting distinction, I thought, and one of the greatest sources of confusion and deception in the body of Christ today. Now I'm not a biblical expert, but I can't find anything in Scripture that declares that one must be "active in church", to be a born-again follower of Christ. But being active in church seems like such a good thing that it surely can't be bad to use church participation as an indicator of a soul's spiritual state, you say. This logical error compounds one of the greatest deceptions that we struggle with as believers today. The deception is this - that being part of an organized church is what being a believer is about.

Now don't get me wrong - in itself the organization and structure we call the church is not a bad thing. But it has grown in complexity through services, programs, and ministries, until it consumes the lives of the church attenders. It is a tar baby that pulls you in, and sticks to you, each touch compounding the problem, until at last you and the tar baby are indistinguishable. At some point in this consumption, the average church attender comes to believe that these services, programs, and ministries are what being a believer is about.

Now I don't know how the average church attender would respond to my challenge that they see the organizational functions of the church as their calling as believers, because I haven't asked, for the most part. I suspect they would say that being caught up in the organization we call the church is not the main purpose of a believer. But their actions reveal and betray them. If you watch where and how their time is spent, it would appear that the chief end of an average believer was, in fact, the services, programs, and ministries of the church.

Here I must take a stand, here I must disagree. When I read the Scripture, I read that being a believer is about living the will of God, glorifying Him, and enjoying His presence. To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself sums up the Law, as Christ said, not being active in church.

So, it comes down to this. Activity in church is no indication of being a follower of Christ. Can you be active in church and be a believer? Absolutely. But you can also be deceived. You can spend your life caught up in services, programs, and ministries, and somehow think that that is what being a believer is about, while your neighbor is consigned to hell because you failed to see the meaning in the declaration of God that you are to love your neighbor as yourself.

For those that are deceived by their involvement in the organization of the church, there will be no greater tragedy than standing before our Lord, protesting your service, your programs, and your ministries, as He says "depart from me, you who are cursed... for I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."

Be cautious, fellow believer, and do not let your involvement in the organization we call the church mask your call to be the salt of the earth, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as your self.

Do not be deceived.

WHAT OR WHO IS THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH? (aka - intro to Trickle-Charge Christianity 101)

The other day I received the following email:

Kent,

Read through the ROT blog, and since I'm new at this blog stuff I figured I would just e-mail. I am impressed with your yearning for a church that will have a greater impact on our post-modern culture. I need a little clarity. What or who is the established church? How does rebelling against the established church translate into Christ's call for unity(Jn.17:20-23)? What is the injustice that you are rebelling against? How do you define tradition? Your ideas of your next church seem vague and abstract.

I replied to the sender that I would try to tackle each of their questions and concerns in a series of Blogs, so here goes...


WHAT OR WHO IS THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH?

In a couple of postings on the Rebellion of Thought BLOG the term "established church" is used. But what do we mean by this?

In my research I learned that back in history some would equate the "established church" with the official "state religion", but this is not the definition we are using. It may touch on our distinct brand of North American cultural Christianity, but since we have no "state religion" it certainly would not mean that.

A simple definition would be to say that the established church is the church which has been handed-down to the current generation. In all of it's varieties and flavors from Catholic to Anglican to Protestant and back again. But this definition would be too simple for our use.

I stumbled upon a website that offers this defintion: "An established church shall be defined as one which (1) has a baptized membership strong enough to be self-supporting, (2) meets regularly for worship, Bible Study and fellowship, and (3) has a natural leader." They go on to outline the church planting priorities, the work assignments and the methodologies of their mission in Taiwan. What's interesting about this is that they also write "no missionary will be permitted to remain in an assignment to work primarily in an established church." They can partner with established churches, but their main focus will not be working in an established church.

This goes hand in hand with what I consider to be the main calling of believers... to be missionaries in the culture around them. Some people get freaked by the idea of becoming a missionary. Visions of African jungles or ugly clothes from the "missionary barrel" invade their minds, but what becoming a missionary means is simply living out the two greatest commandments wherever you are. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind... and love your neighbor as yourself. We do the later through relationship and by attempting to understand the needs of our neighbor... whether we're in the jungle, the backwoods, the big city, or the small town.

This is where I think an understanding of post-modernism can be helpful. Post-Modernism is the language of many of our neighbors and for us to effectively reach them we must be able to speak their language. Just as the missionaries in Taiwan will be more effective if they can speak the language of the people.

My roots were grown in Protestant soil and evangelical Protestant soil at that, so I recognize that my definition of the established church will be influenced by this background. But I strongly believe it to be more universal in nature, reaching across denominational bounderies and into the hearts of believers everywhere. Please remember that this is a working definition, so your input through replies to this post can help shape it. Here goes...

The established church is any church whose focus of it's faith is on it's coming together rather than on it's going out. This is a simple definition that attempts to address a more complex issue which may or may not include your church or the church down the block. But the philosophy that "church" has become about Sunday mornings and perhaps Wednesday nights has invaded our cultural mindset.

I liken the believer to a rechargeable powertool. A cordless drill, for example, is designed for a purpose... to drill holes, or to install, tighten, loosen, or remove screws and nuts, and depending on the attachment it can even stir paint, etc. The drill is also designed to be plugged into a power source to have it's battery recharged. Why? So that it can once again fulfill it's purpose. It's purpose is not to remain continually plugged into the recharging source. But often times isn't this what believers tend to do? They find a church, they get recharged, they get "plugged in", and then they stay there, continually receiving the trickle-charge that the church provides through it's programs, services, and pot-lucks, all-the-while forgetting the purpose for which they've been created and called.

Pastors across the country and around the world are guilty of promoting what I call trickle-charge Christianity. We build bigger sanctuaries, add more programs, more services, additional opportunities to "plug in" and then we stand around and scratch our heads as to why we are not relevant to the culture around us?!?! All of the programs, services, etc. combine to create churches whose mission is to "come together" with other believers, but few church calendars allow or schedule time specifically to "go out" to spend time with non-believers.

The culture around us doesn't care if we have two or three services on Sunday morning. They don't care if we have traditional or contemporary worship styles. They don't care if we have the latest "insert Christian celebrities name here" Bible Study. Post-Moderns want authentic relationships and experiences. They don't want sugar-coated or plastic-smile anything. They desire realness and they deserve realness... which can only be given through true relationship... through us followers of Christ authentically loving them as ourselves. This is how the gospel message will spread in a post-modern world. The challenge will be to keep converts from becoming Trickle-Charge Christians.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN ANYTHING SO MUCH THAT YOU'D MARCH 50 MILES?

Brad, Sam, Matt and I were recently in Oklahoma premiering our dramatic motion picture When Love Walks In at the Bare Bones International Film Festival. It was cool... we won 4 awards. On the way home we took a detour to Selma, Alabama and filmed a couple new segments for Rebellion of Thought.

The first one we filmed in Live Oak Cemetary, a great location with old headstones emerging from the earth and spanish moss hanging from the trees throughout. Brad made a great correlation between the denial of absolutes within our culture and reality of absolutes so evident in the etchings on the headstones... death happens (don't that cheer you up!)

The second segment we filmed was very powerful for me, personally. We shot at the bridge which crosses the Alabama River heading out of Selma on the road toward Montgomery. As you may recall, Selma's Edmund Pettis Bridge was the sight of the 1965 march that became known as America's "Bloody Sunday."

A group of 350± (mostly blacks) were marching to try and secure the right to vote, a privelege that had been granted, but was being denied by the white-slanted voter registration tests (there were blacks with PhD's that couldn't "pass" the same tests as uneducated white folks). The marchers were met at the bridge by Sheriff's Deputies and Alabama State Troopers with billyclubs, bullwhips, and teargas.

Two days later the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. led 650± marchers to the bridge to pray, then two weeks later after receiving a judicial decision which guaranteed their safety, MLK, Jr. and 3500 others started marching the 50 miles to Montgomery. They slept in fields along the way and four days later the crowd had swelled to 25,000 who marched up to the state capital. It was 5 months later that congressed approved LBJ's Voting Rights Act which secured the right for all American's to vote.

Back at the bridge the sun was beginning to set as we began filming our piece on movements. What is it going to take to begin a revolution of faith within our culture? I don't promote violence, I don't advocate civil disobedience, but I do believe there will be significant events that mark the turning points of this emerging movement. So I have to ask myself a few questions... Am I willing to march four days and 50 miles for the cause? Am I willing to face teargas, billyclubs, and bullwhips? Do I believe in it enough to put my own life at risk?

All I can say is, "bring it on..." How about you?

What Makes A Church A Church?

I spoke with John Herman, pastor at Peace Lutheran Church in Charlottesville, who told me that he quoted a portion of my My Next Church article in his sermon yesterday. Here are links to text and audio of the message titled What Makes A Church A Church?

Read Text
Listen to Audio

John has also asked me to speak next Wednesday, April 13th, to a regional group of Lutheran Ministers. I'll post more on that later.

Kent

Post-Modernism Defined

Even the experts can't agree on a definition of Post-Modernism. It's a vague and shifting topic, that eats at your core like undetected cancer. At least it's eaten at mine for the last four plus years and I still struggle to put it into words, but here's an attempt. What follows are three psuedo definitions of what I believe will be the second biggest turning point in human history... the first of which was the act of God wrapping himself within the mortal coil.

Please note that I offer these only as springboards for others who may be struggling to grasp the concept of Post-Modernism. They are by no means intended to be absolute definitions... besides one of them is more poetry than definition. Here they are! Kent


Post-Modernism is... a term used to describe the transition from the modern era into a yet to be named time-period of human history. It is marked by the tearing down of absolute truth claims and a hunger for human experiences. It is the place where we find ourselves today in our North American culture. In and of itself, it is neither good nor evil, it simply is what it is. We should not be afraid of it, nor should we embrace it. Instead, we as followers of Christ should become increasingly diligent in learning to understand the post-modern mind, so that someway, somehow the Spirit of God will use us to reach post-moderns that Christ went to the cross and died for.

Post-Modernism is... an unbelievable opportunity for followers of Christ to live their faith in the streets, not hidden in some sanctuary, not veiled with airs of "holiness", but authentic, truth-driven, experiential faith that is marked and known by Christ's own summary of the gospel... to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind... and to simply, yet passionately, love your neighbor as yourself.

Post-Modernism is...
a seismic shift in cultural ideology
a sizable shifting of values

a lack of pursuing virtues
a lack of "virtues" to pursue

a moral degeneration
a generation without morale

a looking forward to where we've never been
a forgetting from where we've come

an absolute lack of absolutes
a defiance to be defied

a purposelessness to behold
a yearning for more of nothing

a belief in ourselves over God
a look in the mirror seeing emptiness

a forgetting of where the soul resides
a forgery of the spirit

a longing for authenticity
a cringing at the superficial

a dose of experience
a lethal injection of "experiences"

a self-gratifying worldview
a self-grandizing whirlpool

a dominance of ego
a dormant orthodoxy

a relative outlook on life
a life of relatively no introspection

a nonsensical twist of faith
a non-stick gospel in a non-prophet world

a simple life gone haywire
a heinous sinful gonorrhea of the soul

an opportunity like none before
a privilege like none ever seen

a belief in taking chances
a chance to live your beliefs

a seizing of the moment
a monumental need for truth serum

an occasion to be Christ
an occasional glimpse of Christ your neighbors will watch

an invitation to love those who hate you
a proposal to dance with "sinners"

a heart transplant - yours for Christ's
a transubstantiation of the mind

a hope where none should grow
a growth of spirit in a stagnant soul

a juncture for the pewsitter
a purpose beyond the program

a freedom for the faithful
a faith for the fearful

a connection for faith in the world around it
a contortion of the world from the faith within it

a predicament to ponder
an uncertainty to ascertain

a turning point in the history of the Church
a crossroads of how you'll live your faith